Other methods of addressing an impotence problem
Besides drugs and natural impotence solutions, there are various other ways that the problem can be addressed, including impotence vacuum pumps, impotence injections, penile implants and what is known as the ‘medicated urethral system for erection’ or Muse® (which is a registered trade name of Vivus. Inc., a Californian company that specializes in next-generation obesity and sexual health products).
Let us consider each of these products in turn while looking at the attractions or weaknesses of each.
Until Viagra came on the market, impotence vacuum pumps were the number one choice of most men who suffered from erectile dysfunction. For many men who do not want to take pharmaceutical drugs like Viagra, the pump is still the number one choice.
For example, for many men who suffer from heart problems, diabetes or high blood pressure, the risks of taking pharmaceutical drugs for their impotence problem are simply too great. For this reason, despite the apparent overwhelming strength of drugs like Viagra in the impotency market, there are still a significant number of men who continue to prefer to use the vacuum pump.
This is particularly noticeable with men who have suffered impotence for a long time, because before drugs like Viagra and Cialis came along, they had spent many years using vacuum pumps to achieve erections, and consequently, they had simply got used to how they worked.
In the initial stages, a plastic cylinder is placed around the penis, and then a pump (either electrical or manually operated) gradually sucks the air out of the cylinder which creates a vacuum that forces blood to be drawn into the penis.
Once the required erection is achieved, then the cylinder is removed and a reasonably tight fitting elastic collar or band (the ‘tension ring’) is applied to the base of the penis to prevent blood passing back into the body, as this would naturally cause the erection to subside.
It is generally reported that using an impotence vacuum pump is a very effective way of achieving and maintaining an erection, although it is also widely observed that the more familiar with using such a device an individual becomes, the more effective it is. Never has it been truer that practice does indeed make perfect!
Using a pump removes the necessity of taking possibly harmful drugs, and it also provides immediate results. Because of the ‘mechanical nature’ of generating the erection, it is also generally true that performance is not affected by over-consumption of alcohol.
There are a few minor negatives. You must be careful not to leave the ‘tension ring’ in place for more than 30 minutes, and some impotence vacuum users (especially new users) could potentially suffer bruising and pain.
There have been occasionally reported cases of a condition known as priapism, where the individual concerned has maintained his erection for a period of two or three hours. While this might sound like a dream for someone suffering from impotence, it can in fact be quite a dangerous condition, so that anyone who is suffering from priapism must seek medical attention immediately.
And you will occasionally hear a complaint that having to use a pump takes away the spontaneity and romance of the moment, although this is a relatively unimportant argument.
Otherwise, there are no significant downsides to using an impotence vacuum pump, and given that it removes the necessity for pharmaceutical drugs, you might even be able to classify it as a natural impotence treatment.
There are many different types and models of pumps available, and you must ensure that the one you buy is a comfortable fit.
Using injections to generate erections is a treatment that was first used in the early 1990s, and has proved to be an extremely effective treatment for impotence ever since. At that time, the drug that was injected into the corpora cavernosa of the penis (two chambers filled with sponge like erectile tissue) was papaverine, which was a drug used during surgery to dilate blood vessels. By relaxing blood vessels in this way, the drug enabled an injection to cause the penis to become engorged with blood, resulting in an erection.
Since those early days, advancements in drug treatment for impotence have enabled impotence injections to become increasingly successful. Nowadays, it is most common for a ‘cocktail’ of three drugs to be used. The original paperavine is now commonly mixed with alprostadil (a synthetic version of prostaglandin, which is a natural human hormone) and phentolamine. Combining these drugs has led to significant improvements in effectiveness over the original usage of one single drug.
The injections themselves are usually rendered with very fine needles, the kind of needles that diabetics use to inject themselves with insulin. It is said that the injections are painless. The drugs that are to be injected must be prescribed by a doctor, and it is normal for the doctor to demonstrate the injection process the first time, both as a way of ensuring that it is done correctly but also to check that the dosage is suitable.
As long as the dosage is correct, an erection should begin within 10 to 15 minutes, and will generally last for between 60 and 90 minutes.
However, it is important to note that men who have had impotence injections report priapism fairly regularly, and as previously highlighted, if the erection lasts for more than two or three hours, medical attention should be sought as quickly as possible.
It is generally recommended that you do not inject more than two or three times a week, and there are health risks if you have pre-existing medical conditions like sickle cell anemia or leukemia.
While impotence injections are extremely effective, you are injecting invasive drugs into an extremist sensitive part of your anatomy. There is therefore no way that impotence injections could ever be considered to be a natural treatment for the condition.
Here is the good news about penile implants. Of the men who have had an implant of this type, over 90% have reported that they have been able to resume an active sex life. The downside is of course that there is a surgical operation involved, and that introduces the risk of surgical complications.
However, the practice of using penile implants began in the 1970s and so far, the success and safety rates have more than justified the risk. In addition, many men report that the implant (sometimes known as an ‘internal penile pump’) is unnoticeable to their partner. This fact, in combination with the degree of sexual success that 9 out of 10 men enjoy after the operation, means that it is an extremely popular form of impotency treatment.
As the technology behind penile implantation and the materials used have advanced over the years, the operation has become easier, quicker and safer.
Nowadays in fact, a skilled urologist is likely to be able to complete the implant operation in as little as 30 minutes by making a small incision either in the lower abdomen or base of the penis so that the device can be implanted.
There are currently three different types of implants available, and the one that any individual chooses is entirely up to them because there does not seem to be any appreciable difference in either implant success rates, or performance after the operation.
The major advantage of implantation is that after surgery, the penis will get erect exactly as it normally would, whenever desired.
Moreover, there are no pharmaceutical drugs necessary, which makes an implant an attractive option for anyone who cannot tolerate impotence drugs, such as those who suffer from diabetes. In fact, it is believed that at least 40% of men who have undergone penile implants did so because of medical conditions such as diabetes or treatment for prostate cancer problems that led to impotence, so it is clear that implantation has a very real value.
Medicated urethral system for erection (MUSE®)
This is a impotence treatment that was invented by the Vivus company in California in 1997, which consists of using a specially designed plunger to insert a tiny pellet directly into the tube through which both urine and sperm pass, the urethra.
This pellet is loaded with alprostadil (which we have already seen is used in impotence injections) so that the chemical works from the inside to dilate the blood capillaries of the penis. Hence, an erection will begin within 5 to 15 minutes, and can last for up to 60 minutes.
Because you are using the same pharmaceutical chemical that you would when injecting into your penis, the risks are very similar, so people who suffer from penile deformities, sickle cell anemia or leukemia should not consider using MUSE.
Also, because the drug is inserted into the urethra, it is essential that any man who indulges in intercourse with a woman after using the treatment only does so wearing a condom too.
It is also recommended that anyone using this particular impotence treatment does not consider driving a car for a least one hour afterwards as well.
As this process involves pharmaceutical chemicals, it could not be viewed as a natural treatment for impotence, and there is one more consideration that might put you off trying it.
So far, it appears that this particular form of treatment is only successful in 30% to 60% of cases, and those numbers do not compare particularly favorably with many other impotence treatments that we have considered in this section of the report.
Having viewed these four methods of tackling impotence, it is perhaps no surprise that the impotence vacuum pump method still has so many dedicated followers because, although it clearly has some disadvantages, it does not require anything intrusive (like surgery) or involve pharmaceutical chemicals.